Three days after the attack and sudden appearence from one half of the Sibling Rangers, the Dino Rangers were no closer to discovering the identities of their evil counterparts. If they were still in the area, they were keeping a pretty low profile. In response to the attack, Chip had been summoned to Hexagon Headquarters in Angel Grove. He told them that it was for an emergency meeting but the trio were concerned.
To keep her mind off the Sibling Rangers, Jessi had spent the morning down at the beach. For her, surfing was a good way to empty her mind. She was surrounded by her natural element and there was no place where she felt more at home than in the sea. The pink ranger stepped into Youth Centre fresh from the beach. She had dried herself enough to slip on a loose fitting t-shirt and a pair of knee length shorts but her brown hair was still damp. Demi was at the counter with Ruby resting against the other end of the surface, "Hey guys", she greeted, "slow day I see". The Youth Centre was practically empty apart from a few teens.
"Business has been slow since those drones showed up", Demi replied, "suddenly people don't seem too interested".
"It'll pick up", Ruby added, "Jason said Angel Grove was a bit like this in patches but people soon start venturing outside again after a few weeks".
When the former red ranger's name was mentioned, Kimberly stuck her head around the corner, "Did someone mention Jason?"
"Only by name", Jessi smirked at the business owner, "why are you so interested in him?"
"He's an old friend", she replied quickly, "that's all", she flushed bright red and quickly turned away.
"Oh my gosh", Demi cried, "you've got a crush on Jason", he added gleefully.
"I do not", Kimberly quickly walked away from the teens, suddenly finding the clothing racks very interesting, "I'm not a schoolgirl anymore, I don't get crushes".
Unnoticed by the group, two new customers had entered the store and were approaching the counter, "Are we interrupting something", Izzy called out. Her older brother was standing behind her with an unimpressed and surly look on his face.
Jessi spun around and was about to say something but the words stuck in her throat when she saw Izzy. Her mouth flapped open and closed a few times until she was able to let out a strangled, "H-hi".
"Hello yourself", Izzy smiled and took off her green cap, "do you work here?"
Once again the pink ranger struggled for her words and unfortunately for Jessi, Demi beat her to it, "Are you kidding, she can barely string a sentence together", he chuckled. Jessi though wasn't impressed and fixed the blue ranger with a withering glare that made him physically recoil.
"That's a shame", Izzy replied smoothly, "a pretty face like yours would definitely be good for business". By now Jessi's cheeks were a vibrant shade of red and she unconsciously brushed her damp hair in front of her face to mask them, "I'm Izzy and this is my older brother Hunter".
Ruby was about to comment on the lack of family resemblance but Hunter cut in front of her, "We're adopted", he said harshly, "we hear that one a lot". Ruby lowered her head in response to the retort, meanwhile Demi glared at the blonde haired man. "Our Motocross bikes could do with a tune up and we were pointed in your direction".
"Well you've come to the right place", Kimberly approached the brothers, "I've got an opening tomorrow so bring them by first thing and we'll take a look for you".
Izzy smiled in appreciation, "Thanks and I apologise if my brother offended you, I suspect he was dropped on his head as a child". Hunter pushed his younger sister in the back and glared angrily at him, "That's his way of telling me he needs feeding so we'll bring the bikes along in the morning". She then looked Jessi in the eyes and smiled warmly, "I'll see you later", and with that the two siblings departed.
The second the door closed, Jessi immediately lowered her head and banged it a couple of times on the counter, "I can't believe I did that".
"What fumbling over your words like a kid or looking like you stepped out the shower", Ruby asked innocently.
Jessi raised her head off the counter enough to glare at the red ranger, "Thanks doofus, I knew I could count on your to make me feel better".
"Well that's what you get for teasing me", Kimberly said as she retreated to the garage of the youth centre, "I think its called karma, right Jessi".
Ruby watched the two siblings waiting at the crosswalk and stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, "I don't trust them", she stated, "something doesn't seem right".
"Ruby you're suspicious of everyone", Demi looked at the counter and next to Jessi's head was Izzy's discarded baseball cap, "Huh, I guess she forgot this", he said and picked up the cap.
Hexagon Headquarters
Chip hated meetings, there was nothing more boring than sitting around talking. He was a man of action and maybe he occasionally got something wrong but at least he tried to do something. It wasn't like they were even making any progress about finding out the identities of the Sibling Rangers. Most of the conversation was about public relations and how to spin potentially negative press.
After reporting the appearance of the Sibling Rangers, Chip had been dragged to meeting after meeting but still no one had answered the crucial question; how had the designs of the Morphers been stolen and copied. Surely there wasn't too many companies who could manufacture the Morphers so it couldn't be that hard to trace back, "Are we boring you Chip?" he suddenly heard Tommy's voice call out.
His attention now fully back in the room, Chip looked the board leader directly in the eyes, "Do you want me to answer that honestly?"
"Depends on your response", Tommy shrugged, "we're not the ones on probation with the organisation".
That was news to Chip, he knew his stock was pretty low but this was the first time someone mentioned about probation. He shook his head a couple of times, if this was to be his final act with the company he was going out fighting, "What are we achieving sitting around in this room?" he began. "So far I haven't heard anyone even make a suggestion about how our tech was pirated. Whilst we all procrastinate those kids could be in serious danger. They trust us with their lives and everyone's talking about PR and shit like that. Perhaps you've all been in those suits too long to remember what it's like down at the bottom of the pile".
There was a stunned silence in the room, although Tommy looked like he was ready to explode. Chip braced himself for the inevitable firing when someone said, "He's right". The board members all looked around at the woman sitting at Tommy's right, Ashley Hammond, "Perhaps we're forgetting about what's important here".
"What's important is the promise we made to our investors", Tommy stated.
"More important than the lives of three teenagers?" Ashley asked. There was a murmur from the other board members but Chip wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. "Mr Chip, you believe a new mentor would be better for the. correct?"
"Yes Ma'am", he answered, Ashley nodded and she was silent for a moment. She placed her fingers together before stating, "I propose a vote, I nominate Mr DeSantos as the official monitor of the Dino Rangers. Furthermore I'm going to charge him with finding out the true identities of these so called sibling Rangers and whoever stole our designs for the Morphers".
Chip was stunned, someone on the board actually supported him. As several hands began to raise, he noticed that a number of other board member's did as well. Tommy wasn't one of them though and he sat stony faced throughout proceedings. Eventually he counted up the raised hands and sighed, "Motion carries by nine votes to seven", he paused and through gritted teeth added, "looks like congratulations are in order Rocky".
"Thank you everyone, I won't let you down", Rocky stated.
"You'd better not", Tommy began, "otherwise you can consider yourself terminated". Rocky gulped at the emphasis on the last word of his sentence.
"Now I suggest you make a start as soon as possible, the rest of the board has much to discuss".
Recognising a dismissal when he heard one, Rocky hurried out of the boardroom before they could change their minds. He wanted to share the news with Jason but then he remembered that he wasn't around. Settling for some friends a little closer to home, he pulled out his cell phone and found just the person to tell, "Hey Adam, how's everything?"
"Quiet", Adam began, "a little too quiet".
"On a more positive note I've been made an official monitor".
"That's great news", Adam paused for a moment, "but I thought they weren't that fond of you, so there must be some kind of catch".
"Well it's either succeed or I'm fired", Rocky began, "can't really get a much bigger catch than that". Suddenly Rocky heard a loud chime through the phone line, "Everything alright Adam?"
"I'm not sure", Adam said nervously, "I'll call you back". The line went dead and Rocky continued his walk on foot back to his truck. A few minutes later he was in the car park and about to unlock his vehicle when the phone rang again, Rocky turned around sharply but straight into the black ranger. The Black Ranger grabbed his arm and sent a jolt of electricity through his body. Rocky slammed into the side of his truck, his eyes fluttered a few times before he slumped into unconsciousness.
Izzy kicked the cell phone out of Rocky's limp hand and chuckled at Adam's frantic shouting. The Green Ranger stomped on the phone, smashing it into several pieces, "Great, how are we going to move him?" Izzy groaned.
Hunter noticed a set of discarded keys on the floor, "How about we use his own truck?"
"That's devious", Izzy smiled, "I love it". The renegade rangers grabbed Rocky's body and tossed him onto the back seat. Hunter jumped into the driver's seat and truck sped away into the night.